‘Harry Potter’ & Belarusian Customs
The summer and early autumn of protests toughened up the Belarusians. We got used to many things, and it is difficult to surprise us in a positive or negative sense. But I must admit – the Belarusian customs office managed to do just that.
The fact is that on 26th September, an independent Belarusian publisher, Andrei Yanushkevich, started selling another Harry Potter book translated into Belarusian, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. To ensure better quality, the entire edition was printed abroad; Belarusian publishers often choose printing houses abroad. All of a sudden, our customs perked up. On 15th September, they requested an official letter from the publisher stating that ‘the book did not contain calls for the overthrow of the incumbent government in the Republic of Belarus’.
The news immediately spread in Belarus and neighbouring countries. The publisher – who is good with hype and PR – first made the letter from customs public, and then published his official response that the book ‘did not contain calls for the overthrow of the incumbent government in the Republic of Belarus’. Some potential readers got angry, while others laughed. Anyway, it seems that not everyone was fully convinced by the letters. In a few days, the book will be available, and it will now be perceived in the context of toppling the authorities. With government agencies like these, publishers essentially don’t need a marketing department – the books are going to sell like hotcakes.
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‘Hogwarts Hates Lukashenko for Free’, photo: collage from Kati Handrabura’s Facebook page
A few hours later, photo collages by Katia Handrabura went viral on the Internet, aided by both the publisher and Belarusians’ fight for freedom. Harry Potter is pictured with the national flag and a line of OMON officers in the background. By the way, this is the only image without any words. All the other images are accompanied by political slogans. Ron Weasley is holding a poster which reads: ‘Freedom to Buckbeak and political prisoners.’ Hermione is pictured with a poster that says: ‘The dementors’ place is in Azkaban’ (the syllable ‘ment’ in the word ‘dementor’ is in red, thus meaning ‘cop’). Malfoy is marching in a column of protesters with the slogan: ‘The Cruciatus awaits all perpetrators.’ Professor Dumbledore is holding a flag with an inscription that says: ‘Dumbledore’s squad is with the people!’ Ginny and Luna’s poster reads: ‘Accio common sense.’ My favourite, Severus, is standing against the barbed wire with a poster that says: ‘Sasha, drink a potion.’ Professor McGonagall and Sybil Trelawney are holding a flag with the Pahonya coat of arms on it and the words ‘Hogwarts hates Lukashenka for free.’ And finally, You-Know-Who, wrapped in a white-red-and-white flag, is standing with a poster that reads: ‘Even I’m against violence against Belarusians!’ The last image, of course, garnered the largest number of likes and reposts.
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Severus with the inscription: ‘Sasha, Drink the Poison’, photo: collage from Kati Handrabura’s Facebook page
People involved in the world of literature were the least surprised by this whole story. These are people who, due to their occupation, often take books across the Belarusian border – their own books or books purchased abroad, in Poland or, say, in Ukraine. The question of whether your books have political content and the subsequent order to show the suitcase or bag that they are in are standard practice in border crossings by bus or train. (For some reason, this doesn’t apply to the Minsk-2 airport; customs officers there are more concerned about the fate of alcohol from southern countries.)
I remember press runs of the ARCHE journal seized at the border. I remember how the poet Vital Ryzhkou’s Polish journal, with translations of his own poems, was confiscated because something about politics was spotted on the adjacent pages. There are plenty of examples. Three years ago, when I was a member of the jury for an international literary prize, the organisers tried to send me Polish books of poetry (poetry, not politics, mind you). First, the books were seized by customs, and an astronomical duty had to be paid. A year later, a parcel with the books simply vanished into thin air, and all attempts to find the books were in vain. And once, on the Polish-Belarusian border, a Belarusian customs officer became interested in a monograph on Shakespeare I was holding. I had to explain to him the difference between Stratfordian and non-Stratfordian approaches to the Shakespearean question. The officer had enough of it after three minutes, and his degree of hatred against me soared.
I think a large proportion of our uniformed personnel have this gut feeling of hostility towards people with a book, because the latter embody something inaccessible to those living in the unpretentious world of circulars and instructions. And when these ‘bibliophiles’ answer them in Belarusian… Wait, there was one unbelievable exception to this rule. Ales Yurkoyts worked as a customs officer on the border with Lithuania for many years. A deliberate native speaker of Belarusian, he was the only one in his detachment who regularly spoke Belarusian at work. He is an intellectual and local historian who has studied historical monuments, organised literary events and honoured the memory of outstanding figures from our history in his spare time. Isn’t that why a local KGB officer took a disliking to him from the very beginning and spared no effort in putting Ales on trial and behind bars for seven years…?
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Ginny & Luna with a poster reading ‘Common Sense Action’, photo: collage from Kati Handrabura’s Facebook page
But returning from customs to Harry Potter. When it comes to the film, apparently, in no country in the world do people laugh as much at the hoarseness of the bald Voldemort’s voice as they do in Belarus. We’ve been joking for weeks that the Rowling series is being shot on the streets of Belarusian cities, where good is fighting evil in real time. Quotes taken from the Harry Potter books are sometimes directly political in nature, such as: ‘Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.‘
Back in 2003, when the authorities closed the Yakub Kolas Humanities Lyceum – the only institution in the country which offered education entirely in Belarusian – parents, teachers and students took to the streets to fight for their rights. And many began to recall the famous school of witchcraft and wizardry. This author then wrote a poem called Harry Potter, Lyceum Student, and the lyceum students themselves wrote a letter to J.K. Rowling, drawing parallels between her fantasy world and Belarusian reality. I don’t remember whether the writer answered them, but I remember thinking at the time that it was better for the authorities not to irritate the children, because angry students are a serious political force.
The Humanities Lyceum has existed underground for many years since then, and in September 2020, the BSU Lyceum joined the protests. It joined them so decisively that Alexander Lukashenka’s youngest son quit the Lyceum, and two of his granddaughters followed his lead. Clearly, not every child can study at Hogwarts, and the Harry Potter books do contain some calls for the toppling of the authorities after all.
Originally written in Belarusian, 19 Sep 2020, translated from Russian by Natalia Mamul, Nov 2020
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